Colorado Wildfires - 2012

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Holy shit, this is getting bad. Our entire state is going up in flames.

32,000 people under evacuation orders in and around Colorado Springs - hope you're doing okay, NF.

link

(CNN) -- Firefighters again will battle inferno-like conditions on Wednesday as they try to tame an explosive wildfire that has already chased some 32,000 residents from their homes near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"This is a firestorm of epic proportions," Richard Brown, the Colorado Springs Fire chief, said late Tuesday. Winds gusting to 65 mph through mountain canyons blew the wildfire through containment lines into northwest Colorado Springs on Tuesday afternoon.

Northern Colorado's High Park fire is getting a bit more contained, but has destroyed over 250 homes and has charred over 85,000 acres.

Six other wildfires were active in the state, according to the Colorado Division of Emergency Management.

The largest of the fires was the High Park Fire, which began June 9 and has now consumed 87,284 acres, the U.S. Forest Service said. It was 65% contained Tuesday. The total number of homes lost rose to 257. An estimated $33.1 million has been spent trying to contain the blaze.

I know people who have lost their homes and have/are evacuated.

And there's no relief (rain) in sight. It's going to be a long, hot, dry and smokey summer.

:(

 

[GomerBucks]

hang in there, as a Colorado Native, I will be following closely.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

 

[Mac]

Wow, this is getting out of hand. Everyone stay safe!

 

[PlanetFrnd]

From an email from family in CO Springs:

We are still in our house. Yesterday the fire came over a ridge and, pushed by 65 MPH winds, came down into a residential area. The authorities evacuated thousands of people (total now is greater than 30,000) knowing that we were heading into the phase where houses are burning.

The evacuation zone kept expanding. The southern boundary moved from Vindicator south a couple of miles to Garden of the Gods Road, then south another mile or two to Fillmore... We packed up the necessities and made a checklist and decided tentatively on where we would go...

Anyway, although the Mountain Shadows neighborhood looked like a vision of hell, all we are experiencing here is smoke. Oh, and some ash:

[ ] picked up this piece of ash from the deck in front of our bedroom this morning.

The air is smoky, but we are getting used to that. Yesterday, things didn't look too bad until they suddenly looked horrible, so today we are not being particularly comforted by how peaceful everything looks in our immediate vicinity.

There are more than a thousand firefighters working on this fire. They have come from all kinds of places - the Feds, the neighboring towns and counties, and as the team leader said, "friends of friends." If you listen to the really experienced guys, this is clearly what they like to downplay by calling "challenging."

 

[Taosman]

Man this sucks! The fires were very bad down here last year. The smoke was so bad we couldn't exercise out doors. :( It's so dry,my yard is a dust bowl.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Looks like a younger family in my wife's extended family lost their home :(

 

[knapplc]

This is Colorado Springs. The Air Force Academy's stadium is at the bottom of the pic:

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Pretty sure this quote refers to the this ^^ neighborhood.

The Waldo Canyon Fire has burned several homes in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood. The exact total number of homes lost is unknown at this time. However, a firefighter told the Colorado Springs Gazette during a briefing Wednesday that between 200 to 300 homes may have been lost.

link

 

[NFBuck]

Holy [Mark May], this is getting bad. Our entire state is going up in flames.

32,000 people under evacuation orders in and around Colorado Springs - hope you're doing okay, NF.

I'm doing okay. Fortunately, our house is on the far east side of town, well away from the "danger zone". It's just [censored]ing terrible, though. There's the sick glow to the NW at night of the flames, and the air quality wavers between "uncomfortable" and "unbearable", depending on where the wind is blowing. I stood out on the ramp here at work Tuesday evening and literally saw homes igniting 10-12 miles in the distance.

Word is this fire may be the result of an arsonist, and the FBI has joined the hunt. If they catch the [censored], I hope they burn him/her at the stake.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Word is this fire may be the result of an arsonist, and the FBI has joined the hunt. If they catch the [censored], I hope they burn him/her at the stake.

Is there going to be anything left to use as a stake?

 

[NFBuck]

Is there going to be anything left to use as a stake?

Imported.

 

[ulukinatme]

Saw this picture on another board. Poster's friend came home from an extended vacation to snap this pic in his neighborhood. Looks like Mordor

 

[Taosman]

Stay safe, NF and FC and all in Colorado.
We got rain today so that helps our prospects a bit down this way. Hope you guys get rain. :(